Free Republic

LONDONDERRY — The school board on Tuesday night unanimously voted to send a letter to elected officials asking for help with solving a dispute between the school district and the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding school lunches. The letter signals that Londonderry is gearing up for a fight with federal regulators over the government’s intention to classify Londonderry High School’s kitchen areas as a “processing facility” — akin, the school district says, to Tyson Foods, and subject to the same regulations. “To some degree, it feels to us like it’s vindictive, because we made a move to do something that...

On Tuesday night, after months of political heartburn, things finally started cutting Hillary Rodham Clinton’s way. Her performance at the first Democratic presidential debate was so commanding that even her greatest vulnerability — the lingering controversy over her private email practices as secretary of state — ended up redounding to her benefit. After she crisply explained that she made a “mistake” using a private email server and defended her judgment, the moderator, Anderson Cooper of CNN, turned to her biggest threat in the primary campaign so far, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, in hopes that he would attack her. Mr....

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) is pressing fellow Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) to reveal his “strategy for success” as he risks a government shutdown in an attempt to end federal funding of Planned Parenthood. In a letter to Cruz on Thursday, Ayotte demanded to know why the firebrand Texas senator — and presidential candidate — is so strongly pushing legislation that the party can't pass. “It is abundantly clear that we lack the votes in the Senate to redirect these funds,” Ayotte, one of four female Republicans in the Senate, wrote in the letter. She goes out of her way...

Mitt Romney, during campaign stops in Michigan yesterday, embraced his Michigan roots for all they’re worth. As he watches his popularity plummet in the state in which he grew up, he seems to be grasping at anything to keep from sinking any further. Romney tried to hit all the right buttons in order to resonate with Michigan voters leading up to their February 28 primary, by making himself one of them again. “I was born and raised here. I love being in Michigan,” Mr. Romney said. ”Everything seems right here. You know, I come back to Michigan; the trees are...

Last night I watched Karl Rove drive the final nails into his political coffin, as he double-downed his attacks against Christine O’Donnell, on Greta Van Susteren’s show “On The Record.” It may be awhile before the “funeral” takes place, but the coffin is finished, no doubt. The night before I had watched as Rove began his public self-immolation, on The Sean Hannity Show. Hannity, to his credit, defended O’Donnell against Rove’s surprising (to me, at least) and graceless attack, after her win against Power Elite insider, Mike Castle, in the Delaware Republican primary. (Kudos to Sean Hannity for standing up...

It's been a win-win the past few days for Democratic and Republican loyalists, but what about the rest of us? You know. Americans who either don't think that (a) spending nonexistent trillions is quite the way to proceed in an economic crisis, or that (b) Rush Limbaugh is the messiah. Oh wait, that's right, Barack Obama is the messiah. I get confused sometimes, what with so much deification going on. Limbaugh's 85-minute speech at last weekend's Conservative Political Action Conference, frequently interrupted by grateful applause from a slightly star-struck audience, was, dare we say it, Obama- esque. But where there's...

Shortly before John McCain suspended his campaign to help with the Wall Street bailout, his generals declared war on The New York Times. In a conference call this week, McCain senior aide Steven Schmidt bellowed: “Whatever The New York Times once was, it is today not by any standard a journalistic organization. It is a pro-Obama advocacy organization that every day impugns the McCain campaign, attacks Sen. McCain, attacks Gov. (Sarah) Palin. ... Everything that is read in The New York Times that attacks this campaign should be evaluated by the American people from that perspective.” Strong stuff. And, to...

WASHINGTON -- In a political season that has become a '70s Show, a Richard Nixon revival infects both parties' primaries. Even Spiro Agnew -- Nixon's Nixon -- is being reprised. Hillary Clinton attacks Barack Obama by recycling a slogan Nixon used in 1960 against John Kennedy: "Experience Counts." But is it prudent of her to invite remembrances of things past? She had two experiences of wielding power regarding important matters for her husband's administration. One concerned the selection of his first, second and third choices to be attorney general -- all in just 50 days. The decisive criterion would be...